Why use rainscreen cladding

Architects and designers have long understood that reducing the need for internal supporting walls creates lighter, brighter interiors, a fact that is particularly valuable to landlords looking to maximise rental space and create a desirable, naturally-lit interior ambience. Without rainscreen cladding on exterior elevations, buildings made of porous material such as cement render are exposed to the elements and the deterioration process can happen quickly.

The use of robust, impervious cladding material, such as aluminium, steel, corten and copper physically protects a building from the elements, whilst creating a very low maintenance facade. In addition, modern rainscreen cladding systems allow for individual panels to be removed, giving maintenance teams easy access to services. This ease of access means that upgrades or repairs to building services can be done cost effectively and with minimum disruption to occupiers.

Adding rainscreen cladding to the exterior of an existing building is a low-cost way of improving its thermal performance, without any loss of internal floor space. The type and thickness of the material is selected for each project depending on its insulating capacity and the project needs location, orientation, type of construction, etc. Many materials can be used for cladding, such as ceramic, metallic claddings, wood or natural slate. The most important thing is choosing a high-quality, resistant and durable material that completes the efficiency of the rainscreen cladding system.

Installing a rainscreen cladding system when doing building renovations is completely viable. For doing so, it is necessary to remove the existent cladding material and cleaning any moisture or imperfection of the bearing wall before installing the rainscreen cladding. Now that the structure and functioning of the rainscreen cladding system is clear, it is important to mention the main advantages of installing a rainscreen cladding system in buildings and private homes. The continuous circulation of air inside the air cavity works as an extra protection layer and removes the possible water filtrations that can slip through the cladding joints.

The constant ventilation inside the air cavity improves the durability of the exterior cladding material , since it keeps it dry. As we mentioned at the beginning, the air cavity allows maintaining a more stable temperature in the building construction envelope.

This helps preventing the risk of cracks and other structural issues. Since the structure is not subject to extreme temperature changes, it is less liable to suffer expansion or contraction movements. The insulation layer is optional, but when we combine it with the rainscreen cladding system, the thermal and acoustic insulation of the building improves significantly. This have a huge impact on health, since environmental pollution is diminished and therefore are the health issues derived from the excess of noise such as stress or fatigue.

Additionally, this system removes thermal bridges. The dimensions of the ventilated cavity should not exceed the limits in the Building Regulations. The U-value of a proprietary rainscreen cladding system is dependent on the degree of thermal bridging in the system.

Note: Fixings assumed to be plastic insulation holders with 5mm dia. For project specific calculations contact our Technical Support Team on The U-values for proprietary curtain walling systems are dependent on the degree of thermal bridging in the system, Knauf Insulation advise consulting individual curtain walling manufacturers for U-values appropriate for their system.. Curtain walling systems come in several forms. The illustration above shows a unitised curtain wall system.

Unitised curtain wall facades are suitable for various facing materials such as aluminium, steel, natural stone or glass. They are assembled in a factory as large integral units, and taken to site for fast track fixing. Skip to main content. In fact, it makes an old building look and perform like new. This is an excellent way of modernising older properties, or ensuring that new builds have contemporary appeal. Gravity defying designs Modern rainscreen cladding systems are lightweight and strong, making it relatively easy to create engaging, striking designs that appear to defy gravity.

Minimum disruption from over cladding Over cladding makes sound environmental sense. Firstly, the improved thermal performance from extra insulation means less energy is required to heat the building.